Wings built in Filton for RAF being shipped abroad

AIRCRAFT wings assembled in Filton have been shipped to Spain in readiness to be used on the first Royal Air Force A400M military transporter.

The wings, put together by highly-skilled Airbus employees, are being transported to a final assembly line in Seville by road and sea, following the closure of Filton airfield.

The wings were loaded onto the Airbus roll-on-roll-off ferry at Royal Portbury Docks.

The RAF will receive the first of the 22 state-of-the-art A400Ms it has ordered in September next year.

In March Airbus announced 50 temporary jobs were being created at Filton due to increasing demands for its A400M, which is replacing the ageing Hercules aircraft.

The plane is the last in a long and distinguished line of aircraft to have been built at the factory. The list includes the Brabazon, Concorde and most recently the A380 superjumbo, which is the world's largest commercial aircraft.

The A400M's development was dogged by delays, overspends and political rows that at one point threatened its future. Its maiden flight, originally planned for 2008, took place in December 2009.

Orders totalled 174 aircraft from eight nations as of July 2011.

The first A400M was delivered to the French Air Force on August 1 this year.

Airbus employs around 4,500 staff at its factory in Filton and supports thousands more jobs in Bristol and the surrounding area.

As well as wing assembly for the A400M, the site is responsible for wing design, fuel systems, work on landing gear, aerodynamics work, research and testing.